Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Parks in Botswana offer visitors a distinctly different experience even though they are situated close to each other.

Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Parks, Botswana - Safaris in the dry and wet season are recommended in order to witness the dramatic appearance of the pans at their driest and to experience the transformation after the rains when the wildebeest and zebra migrations occur.

One of the world's largest salt pans, The Makgadikgadi Pans cover about 10,000 square km in nothing but salt. Some are enormous, others the size of small ponds.

Around them are vast grasslands fringed with palm trees. The pans flood after the rains early in the year. Immediately the desert blooms attracting thousands of water birds to the shallow pools. The flamingos and pelicans flock to the salty waters and the animals of the plains to the fresh grasses. The flamingos migrate from as far away as East Africa to filter the newly released nourishment and algae from the waters.

The Makgadikgadi Pans are east of Okavango & Maun. The best time to visit is from May to September. It is advisable not to travel in the rainy season due to the roads being inaccessible but the spectacle is great to see from the air. In the wet season, after December, the game is plentiful with large herds of gemsbok, springbok, zebra and wildebeest and many lion, cheetah and hyena.

The Nxai Pan was once part of the great lake that covered central Botswana, but now they are mostly fossil pans, covered with good grasslands rather than salt.

Perhaps the focal point of Nxai Pan is the water hole, situated only two kilometres from the entrance gate, in the midst of a large grassy plain which is dotted with a few clumps of short umbrella thorn trees. Here, and within the mopane woodland, lion, giraffe, kudu, impala, ostrich, fascinating birdlife and large numbers of springbok, together with a good population of jackal, bat-eared fox and numerous smaller creatures, are permanent residents. Once the rains have started, gemsbok, elephant and zebra migrate to the area. At that time, zebra are present in thousands and drop their young at Nxai Pan, rivalling the spectacle of the multitude of young springbok, to further enhance game-viewing opportunities.

Whilst most game reserves are not considered to be at their best during the rains, Nxai Pan becomes a veritable Garden of Eden. This area offers the most incredible safari experience. There is an abundance of game and birdlife.

A variety of accommodation is offered from luxury safari tented camps to a traditional type of camp.

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